Snowsill Out, Moffatt Ready For Thrilling Showdown

Olympic champion Emma Snowsill was today forced to withdraw from the upcoming ITU Triathlon World Championship Grand Final on the Gold Coast.

Snowsill recently returned home from racing in Europe for medical attention to a labral tear and soft cartilage injury to her hip. Whereas keyhole surgery was successful, it required her to rest the troubled joint before returning to a heavy load of training. Despite being underdone, Snowsill was keen to race, but a weekend meeting with her surgeon convinced her and coach Craig Walton that it was not worth returning too early and causing potential long term damage.

“I am really disappointed that having the opportunity to compete at home in front of family and friends is not going to happen,” Snowsill said. “I have done everything possible I was allowed to in that short time, however, I can only be thankful it happened this year and not last year. I am still excited to witness the first Grand Final of the World Series unfold and will still feel proud to showcase our sport to the local community and the international athletes who are competing.”
Walton said Snowsill was a fierce competitor and was extremely frustrated; however, it was always going to be a tall order to get her on the start line for the Grand Final on September 13.
“If Emma continues to push the envelope like she already has and competes with the labrum injury under repair, she would most likely be compromising the joint if she over stresses the area now, which may adversely impact on her longer term run-up to the next Olympics.”

Snowsill’s withdrawal means all eyes will be on Emma Moffatt as she attempts to clinch her first world title in a year when, for the first time, the championship is decided over a series of races.

Moffatt sits atop of the overall standings on 3140 points, having blitzed the field with consecutive wins in Washington, Kitzbuhel and Hamburg during the middle stages of the series, but her lead has diminished as a result of missing the last two races with a minor foot complaint.

In her absence, Swedish star Lisa Norden has excelled, taking silver and gold in London and Yokohama respectively to come within striking distance on 3020 points. With New Zealand’s Andrea Hewitt also hovering on 2766 points, a number of scenarios can be played out in what promises to be a thrilling climax to the inaugural ITU World Championship Series. The most pivotal battle however, is the head-to-head battle between Moffatt and Norden, with the winner of that dual set to become the new world champion short of a major catastrophe. Moffatt, for her part, is ready for the challenge.

“I’ve mainly been concentrating on my swim and bike since I’ve been home but in the last two weeks I’ve been able to pick up on my running and my foot has been fine, so I’ve got no problems and I’m really looking forward to it,” Moffatt said. “It’s so exciting to be racing at home. I’m feeling fresh and looking forward to some hard racing. I’ve got my family and some friends coming up (from the north coast of NSW) to support me and I’m hoping there will be a lot of age-group athletes on the course making plenty of noise. It should be a wonderful atmosphere.”

Moffatt has not fretted while on the sidelines, instead concentrating on getting herself primed for a grand final showdown. “To be honest, I didn’t watch the last race in Yokohama because I was out training,” she said. “I’m not feeling any extra pressure because there’s not a lot I can do about anyone else anyway. I’ll simply be out there to give it my best shot and hopefully I can execute a good race on the day – if you have a bad day, so be it – but it’s just a matter of preparing the best you can.”

The men’s championship is at the mercy of 21-year-old British sensation Alistair Brownlee who, having won all four races he has entered, stands well clear on 3200 points. His nearest rival is reigning world champion, Spain’s Javier Gomez on 2849 points.

Australia’s Brad Kahlefeldt saw his hopes dashed in London when he cut his foot on a competitor’s bike amid a large pack of competitors in the final transition, forcing him to withdraw from that race and the following event in Yokohama. He subsequently slipped from fourth to eighth in the rankings, but is set to take his place on the start line at the Gold Coast.

“I was probably only a 50/50 chance of racing when I came back to Australia because I had a pretty serious cut along four of my toes, he said. “But I’ve looked after it and been back running this week, so although I might have to put up with a little bit of pain on the day, I’m confident I can put in a good showing. I don’t like starting unless I can be competitive, so I certainly won’t be there just making up the numbers.

“This is the one race of the year that I’ve been looking forward to the most. I’ve basically been in full race mode since April, so I’m race fit and ready to go. This course has been my back yard for the last eight years and I tend to race well at home. Aussie athletes are always travelling to Europe, America and Asia to race, so we like to try and make the most of it when we’ve got a chance to compete at home.”

Courtney Atkinson sits in tenth spot on the world rankings and will be looking to finish the series strongly after a mixed bag of results. A silver medal and several top 10 finishes have been interspersed with a serious stomach virus that affected his form and now he is simply happy to have the chance to be involved in what is a huge occasion for the sport.

“The weekend is not just about the elite athletes,” he said. “There’s also the Junior and Under 23 world championships, along with the age group racing, of which we have almost 1000 athletes taking part, so this is a great event for triathlon in this country and an important weekend for a lot of people. I’m happy to be in reasonable shape and to be able to go out there and give it my best shot.”